Intentions to Marry, 1915 Aria to Masterton

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840459, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1915 is bound in six volumes (a to f) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1915c contains pages 1021-1500, covering districts from Aria to Masterton

Page 1218

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1915 Registrar W. Buchanan

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

23 February 1915

William Jarvis
Cecilia Florence Prince

William Jarvis
Cecilia Florence Prince
💍 1915/1538

Bachelor
Spinster

Pork Butcher
Hotel Servant

31
22

Napier South
Napier

9 months
12 months

St. Mary's Catholic Church Napier

3484

23 February 1915

Rev. Father O'Sullivan, Roman Catholic

No	38
Date of Notice	23 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Jarvis	Cecilia Florence Prince
	💍 1915/1538
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pork Butcher	Hotel Servant
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Napier South	Napier
Length of Residence	9 months	12 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Catholic Church Napier
Folio	3484
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father O'Sullivan, Roman Catholic

23 February 1915

Alfred Baker
Kate Elizabeth Fryer

Alfred Baker
Kate Elizabeth Fryer
💍 1915/7729

Widower, 22 August 1911
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

43
38

Napier
Marine Parade, Napier

24 years
15 months

Residence of Wm. Walters Marine Parade Napier

1000

23 February 1915

Rev. Thos. Tait, Presbyterian

No	39
Date of Notice	23 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Baker	Kate Elizabeth Fryer
	💍 1915/7729
Condition	Widower, 22 August 1911	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	43	38
Dwelling Place	Napier	Marine Parade, Napier
Length of Residence	24 years	15 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Wm. Walters Marine Parade Napier
Folio	1000
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Tait, Presbyterian

24 February 1915

Charles Aikman Paterson
Euphemia Gray

Charles Aikman Paterson
Euphemia Gray
💍 1915/8820

Bachelor
Spinster

Fencer
Nurse

47
35

Tutira
Tutira

5 years
4 years

The Manse Lincoln Road Napier

1002

24 February 1915

Rev. Thos. Tait, Presbyterian

No	40
Date of Notice	24 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Aikman Paterson	Euphemia Gray
	💍 1915/8820
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fencer	Nurse
Age	47	35
Dwelling Place	Tutira	Tutira
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The Manse Lincoln Road Napier
Folio	1002
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Tait, Presbyterian

24 February 1915

Thomas George Baker
Jessie Louisa Rossiter

Thomas George Baker
Jessie Louisa Rossiter
💍 1915/10170

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

33
36

Napier
Napier

6 years
10 months

St. Johns Cathedral Napier

2849

24 February 1915

Rev. Canon Mayne, Church of England

No	41
Date of Notice	24 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas George Baker	Jessie Louisa Rossiter
	💍 1915/10170
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	33	36
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	6 years	10 months
Marriage Place	St. Johns Cathedral Napier
Folio	2849
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Mayne, Church of England

25 February 1915

Harry Cook
Ethel Marie Spence

Harry Cook
Ethel Marie Spence
💍 1915/7726

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
28

Havelock North
Napier

4 years
28 years

St Augustines Church Napier

997

25 February 1915

Rev. Canon Luke, Church of England

No	42
Date of Notice	25 February 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Cook	Ethel Marie Spence
	💍 1915/7726
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Havelock North	Napier
Length of Residence	4 years	28 years
Marriage Place	St Augustines Church Napier
Folio	997
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Luke, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).